Spectrum Analyzer Lowers High-End Test Costs

Signal Hound’s SM200A 20 GHz headless RF spectrum analyzer and monitoring receiver suits applications ranging from IoT and 5G cellular, to military, aerospace, spectrum management, automotive, and radar. Optimized for performance, flexibility, space, and cost, the SM200A is said to lower the cost of entry to high-end spectrum analysis while delivering precisely what’s required for the most demanding production-line and spectrum monitoring RF analysis applications.

 

The SM200A tunes from 100 kHz to 20 GHz, has an instantaneous bandwidth of 160 MHz, a high dynamic range of 110 dB, a sustained sweep speed of 1 THz/s, a built-in sub-octave preselector from 20 MHz to 20 GHz, and ultra-low phase noise -- introducing no more than 0.1% error to EVM measurements. This low level of phase noise rivals the most expensive spectrum analyzers on the market. Its system noise ranges between 13 dB and 19 dB between 700 MHz and 15.2 GHz.

 

The SM200A’s headless design is a reaffirming nod toward Signal Hound’s minimalist philosophy, providing the small form-factor desired by test-bed and production-line designers and making it ideal for remote-monitoring installations. The unit measures 10.2 x 7.2 x 2.15 inches (259 x 183 x 55 mm) and weighs 8.67 lbs. (with passive cooling, AC desktop adapter, and power cord).

 

Architecturally, the SM200A distributes its digital signal processing requirements for high-speed RF signal analysis across an on-board Altera Arria-10 FPGA and an external PC with an Intel Core i7 processor. This provides users with the flexibility to scale to any current or future configuration. The analyzer can be accessed remotely over a network via the PC to which it’s connected, and it also includes a built-in GPS for automatic time and geolocation stamping of the received signals.

 

Additionally, the instrument offers a fully-documented API supporting features such as spectrum sweeping, setting record-on-event triggers, real-time analysis, and streaming of calibrated I/Q data. The SM200A is shipping now, with a US retail price of $11,900.  Get more details about the SM200A and/or download the SM200A datasheet.